For Streetwise Coyotes, Another Lesson to Learn

The growth of San Diego County and its rural neighborhoods isn’t sending coyotes into the hills for cover. They’re just becoming more streetwise about surviving in an urban environment, according to Fletcher Diehl.

He’s founder of the National Predator Callers Assn.

Got termites? Call Terminex. Got mice? Call Truly Nolen. Got coyotes? Call the National Predator Callers Assn. First they’ll lure them toward your house with a noise that attracts coyotes--say, the sound of a cat or dog squealing. Then they’ll shoot ‘em.

Diehl, who founded the group in 1974 and is its prime spokesman and marksman, said he can’t count how many coyotes he has shot over the years. Hundreds, maybe? Try thousands.

“We’re a service organization directed at giving answers to people who are having a predator problem,” said Diehl, who works for San Diego Gas & Electric Co. during the day.

“Coyotes have propagated well in the city. They’re definitely a bigger problem now than they were 5 or 10 years ago. There are more coyotes today than there ever have been in the history of the world. I doubt there are fewer than 500,000 coyotes in San Diego County. A minimum of a half-million. At least.”

Coyotes show up in downtown La Mesa and downtown Escondido and in backyards of Mission Hills, he said. “A skunk or an opossum will take your cat’s or dog’s food; a coyote will take your cat or dog,” he added.

The coyote only has a couple of predators in these parts--mountain lions, in the backcountry, or automobiles, in the city. Or, Fletcher Diehl and 25 or so associates, “men from all walks of life.”

“The only thing we do,” he said, “is to investigate your situation if you’ve got a coyote problem, and determine the scope of the problem, and then we’ll handle it accordingly.”

Accordingly?

“I can trap a coyote for you, then relocate it. But I want $300 for that, up front before I set the trap. And then all we’re doing is making a problem somewhere else.”

What’s the other option?

“Shoot ‘em. Ninety-nine percent of the time there’s no charge for that. We accept donations.”

Diehl is permitted by the state Department of Fish and Game to shoot coyotes--even within the city limits of San Diego, which allows shooting if done under the authority of the State of California. Diehl has such authority, said Capt. Gregory Laret of Fish and Game.

Diehl will notify a particular police station that he’ll be at a certain neighborhood within certain hours so officials won’t be alarmed if residents call, reporting the sound of gunfire. His .22-caliber, bolt-action rifle can pluck off a coyote at 500 yards--or as close as 10 feet. He’ll hide in a barn or behind a car, atop a swing set or inside a bedroom window. He’ll make the calls to attract the coyotes. Maybe one will come. Maybe four or five. He’ll nail as many as he can before they run off.

Some people don’t like his methods. “You can’t get rid of a species just because it’s an inconvenience to you. You can’t just get rid of wildlife,” said Meryl Faulkner with Project Wildlife. They’re the folks you’re referred to if you call the Department of Animal Control to complain about coyotes. But if you call the state Department of Fish and Game, they’ll refer you to Diehl. Seems that bureaucracy can’t agree on coyotes.

“If I’m going to shoot an animal,” Diehl said, “I’ll do everything in my power to make it instant and humane. If people want to argue about it, I tell them that shooting is discriminatory, unlike trapping and poison. I decide when to pull the trigger.”

Magazine Goes Ape

The computerized letter from Sports Illustrated magazine to 15-year-old Ken Allen of San Diego begins:

“From a select group of sports fans, Ken Allen has been chosen to receive SI’s most valuable package ever.”

It continues, “We’re looking for a few good sports fans from San Diego. Fans who really know sports. And judging from what we can tell about you, Ken Allen, you’re the kind of fan we want.”

We doubt that.

The SI spiel was mailed to the San Diego Zoo, where Ken Allen is a resident orangutan. A jock, maybe, but an orangutan nonetheless.

Ken has until Feb. 28 to respond to the offer, and such a deal it is. Free binoculars (the better to see the tourists with). A baseball preview issue and a baseball schedule (in case he wants to escape his enclosure and spend the afternoon at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium). A Super Bowl XX pin (Oooowee!). And, last but not least, the famous swimsuit issue.

He’ll probably go ape over that.

What a Match!

In his “Padres Notes,” the Oceanside Blade-Tribune baseball writer gives what we gotta believe is only half the story:

“Lance McCullers and Jerry Davis, both rookies last year, have announced they are engaged to be married after the season.”